Design and Development of MEMS-Based Sensors for Wearable Diagnostic Applications

Abstract

Vital indicators of human heath monitoring, such as body temperature, blood pressure, and respiration rate, provide information about the overall wellbeing of a living being and, thus, find high relevance in healthcare, safety, and sports. The information coded in these vital signs is analyzed and measured by wearable devices in a non-invasive manner. Wearable devices make use of single or multiple sensors for real-time monitoring of these vital parameters. With advances in fabrication techniques and newer available materials, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have become a key ingredient of wearable devices. Wearable devices are generally made up of advanced MEMS-based sensors for precise monitoring. They are flexible, low cost, and are currently being used for diagnosis of arterial pulse waveforms, heart rate, respiration rate, etc., along with physiological and biochemical profiles. However, with newer materials and fabrication techniques, there exist certain technological constraints, such as the selection of biomarkers, material compatibility, and high power consumption. These problems can be reduced by proper selection of materials, so that they are compatible with the fabrication technique, and adequate analysis of biomarkers. In this chapter, we will briefly discuss biomarkers, materials, fabrication techniques, etc. and will also cover various detection principles sued for finding out the vital signatures. Along with this, the recent design and development of wearable sensors, challenges, and future outlook will also be discussed.